The Team Sky cyclist channelled his inner Roy Keane when speaking at the Web Summit in Dublin earlier today, as he described the bittersweet feeling following his historic triumph back in June.
“This Tour de France went extremely well but I came away thinking I wasn’t good enough,” he told the audience.
“I thought I should have won more. ‘What can I change from my training so that I can be even more consistent next year?’
“You spend all year working towards the Tour De France and then you’re on to the next one. There’s very little time to absorb what’s happened. You have to be looking at the next thing — otherwise, you will slow down.”
The Nairobi-born athlete also explained how he often regarded setbacks in cycling as blessings in disguise.
“It’s a great position to be in,” he said. “I crashed out of Tour de France in 2014.
“Those disappointments are great. They bring you straight back down to earth and they’re very humbling. It gives you that level of motivation where you want to get back to your best again.
“What’s more dangerous is moving on from a very successful position where you feel as if everything has gone right. There’s a danger of complacency.
“You don’t realise when it does sneak up on you. You think: ‘I know how to train, I know how to get ready. I’ll be fine.’
“Now, more than ever, I have to be trying to find those extra gains. This year, one thing that was a blessing in disguise was crashing out of Vuelta a couple of months ago. It was months of training gone out window, as I’d broken my foot. But it’s left me feeling I’ve got to get back.”
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Froome also spoke in detail about Team Sky’s emphasis on marginal gains and how this philosophy is a key part of their success.
“David Brailsford has spoken at length about it. If anything, it sets a mindset within the team — everyone is looking at all the different aspects of performance and breaking them down and in essence, trying to find better ways of doing things.
“Things like using hair gel. Having hand gel. Once you’re on the bus, once you get to your room — just to make sure you’re sanitised.
“It sounds silly, but we are on the edge of our immune systems crashing. We’re very susceptible to picking up bugs. In a three-week race, if you get sick, you rarely recover from that.
“Every hotel, our bedding, our mattresses, are taken from hotel to hotel, so you get the same night’s sleep.
“That’s not going to win you the Tour de France. But from a nutritional point of view, it’s just evaluating what our requirements are.
“Not taking supplements straight from a manufacturer — it’s about working with supplement manufacturers, and thinking about every little detail.”
The 30-year-old athlete also acknowledged that Team Sky have been far from popular, both inside and outside of cycling circles.
“Cycling is a traditional sport. A lot of the managers are ex-bike riders themselves — tradition carries on.
“You can imagine the image of a new British team trying to modernise the sport. Not only are we trying to do it but we’ve got people who laugh at David Brailsford when he said we’d win the Tour de France in five years. It really has been a remarkable performance.”
He adds that this focus on the minutiae of performance ultimately creates a pervasive positivity throughout the team
“You’ve got a performance benefit from doing these little things, but it’s more than that.
“You’ve got 75-80 people thinking about every little detail they’re doing. From chefs to carers to mechanics — you really do feel a buzz. Everyone’s challenging: ‘How can we do things better?’
“Other teams are getting better so we have to constantly evolve and think about what we can do better.”
And as for the future? Froome faces a big 2016, in which he will attempt to balance the Tour de France with the Olympics in Rio, despite a relatively short turnaround between the two events.
“I’m flying over to Rio tomorrow morning to see exactly what we’re up against there.
“My focus is going to be on the Tour de France and hopefully I’ll be in good enough shape to go on to the Olympics two weeks later. It’s not going to be easy and that’s part of the reason for me going there tomorrow — to see how I can prepare for that.
“From a mental point of view, knowing that the end point is not the Tour de France, I’ve got to be sure I get to the next race as fit as possible.”
And with all this relentless intensity, does Froome ever get a chance to relax?
“For 10 months of the year, it’s full on, it’s a way of life. It’s everything you do for 10 months. This time of year is fantastic — it’s the one time I can switch off.
“With my foot injury, I was going a bit crazy after 10 days, so I went swimming just to do something.
“But it’s good to re-set every year and put on a few kilos, but come November, I’m ready to get back into it again.”
And despite his impressive successes to date, Froome insists he is hungrier than ever.
“Since Lance Armstrong’s era, no cyclist has ever won back-to-back Tour de France titles, since biological passports have come into effect. So for me, that’s a big motivation.”
'I came away thinking I wasn't good enough' - Chris Froome on winning the Tour de France
CHRIS FROOME SAYS even winning his second Tour de France earlier this year was not enough to satisfy his perfectionism.
The Team Sky cyclist channelled his inner Roy Keane when speaking at the Web Summit in Dublin earlier today, as he described the bittersweet feeling following his historic triumph back in June.
“This Tour de France went extremely well but I came away thinking I wasn’t good enough,” he told the audience.
“I thought I should have won more. ‘What can I change from my training so that I can be even more consistent next year?’
“You spend all year working towards the Tour De France and then you’re on to the next one. There’s very little time to absorb what’s happened. You have to be looking at the next thing — otherwise, you will slow down.”
The Nairobi-born athlete also explained how he often regarded setbacks in cycling as blessings in disguise.
“It’s a great position to be in,” he said. “I crashed out of Tour de France in 2014.
“What’s more dangerous is moving on from a very successful position where you feel as if everything has gone right. There’s a danger of complacency.
“You don’t realise when it does sneak up on you. You think: ‘I know how to train, I know how to get ready. I’ll be fine.’
“Now, more than ever, I have to be trying to find those extra gains. This year, one thing that was a blessing in disguise was crashing out of Vuelta a couple of months ago. It was months of training gone out window, as I’d broken my foot. But it’s left me feeling I’ve got to get back.”
Froome also spoke in detail about Team Sky’s emphasis on marginal gains and how this philosophy is a key part of their success.
“Things like using hair gel. Having hand gel. Once you’re on the bus, once you get to your room — just to make sure you’re sanitised.
“It sounds silly, but we are on the edge of our immune systems crashing. We’re very susceptible to picking up bugs. In a three-week race, if you get sick, you rarely recover from that.
“Every hotel, our bedding, our mattresses, are taken from hotel to hotel, so you get the same night’s sleep.
“That’s not going to win you the Tour de France. But from a nutritional point of view, it’s just evaluating what our requirements are.
“Not taking supplements straight from a manufacturer — it’s about working with supplement manufacturers, and thinking about every little detail.”
The 30-year-old athlete also acknowledged that Team Sky have been far from popular, both inside and outside of cycling circles.
“Cycling is a traditional sport. A lot of the managers are ex-bike riders themselves — tradition carries on.
He adds that this focus on the minutiae of performance ultimately creates a pervasive positivity throughout the team
“You’ve got a performance benefit from doing these little things, but it’s more than that.
“You’ve got 75-80 people thinking about every little detail they’re doing. From chefs to carers to mechanics — you really do feel a buzz. Everyone’s challenging: ‘How can we do things better?’
“Other teams are getting better so we have to constantly evolve and think about what we can do better.”
And as for the future? Froome faces a big 2016, in which he will attempt to balance the Tour de France with the Olympics in Rio, despite a relatively short turnaround between the two events.
“I’m flying over to Rio tomorrow morning to see exactly what we’re up against there.
“From a mental point of view, knowing that the end point is not the Tour de France, I’ve got to be sure I get to the next race as fit as possible.”
And with all this relentless intensity, does Froome ever get a chance to relax?
“For 10 months of the year, it’s full on, it’s a way of life. It’s everything you do for 10 months. This time of year is fantastic — it’s the one time I can switch off.
“With my foot injury, I was going a bit crazy after 10 days, so I went swimming just to do something.
And despite his impressive successes to date, Froome insists he is hungrier than ever.
“Since Lance Armstrong’s era, no cyclist has ever won back-to-back Tour de France titles, since biological passports have come into effect. So for me, that’s a big motivation.”
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Chris Froome Cycling Olympics perfectionist Rio 2016 Team Sky Tour de France